Proud to be Different

Ethnocentric Niche Charter Schools in America

Edited by Robert A. Fox, Nina K. Buchanan

Publication date:

30 January 2014

Length of book:

224 pages

Publisher

R&L Education

Dimensions:

234x161mm
6x9"

ISBN-13: 9781475806199

This is a book about ethnocentric niche charter schools. What are they? When did they first appear? From where did the term come? How do they differ from regular charter schools and from district-run traditional public schools? Each subject chapter was created by a team consisting of at least one educational researcher and at least one charter school practitioner. The goal is to make the book readable for everyone (policymakers, parents, teachers, older students) while providing a framework of rigor from which to view each charter school. Hence: the teams. We took special pains to create a book which exhibits the objectivity of the educational researcher while, at the same time, inviting the reader into each school by painting a human picture of its ethos. Each chapter contains a description of the school told by people who actually taught or learned or sent their children there.
Bob Fox and Nina Buchanan have penned an intriguing and useful new book on a rarely-examined dimension of charter schooling, offering a thoughtful look at schools that celebrate a particular ethic, culture, or linguistic heritage. Building on a decade of their own inquiry, they explain how these schools fit within the larger framework of charter school policy and the tensions that can ensue. This is a volume that points to both the possibilities and some of the attendant challenges posed by the charter model and that promises to be invaluable reading for those engaged in charter school practice, policy, or authorizing.